Under the Mask
by StarbuckStar
Summary: House and Chase are captured by a man seeking revenge against House. The experience threatens to destroy one of them and reveal the inner most secrets of the other.
1. Chapter 1

**UNDER THE MASK**

**Part 1**

Chase gasped in horror as the rough, massive hand tightened even more around his neck. The young doctor continued to struggle for air as the man holding him dragged him unceremoniously backward, causing him to suffocate.

"Not a word!" the lips whispered in his ear and the foul breath along with the cold feel of a gun against his skin made his skin crawl.

He was roughly dragged to a back corner as two other men stepped closer to the door.

The door handle slid and the door slowly opened. House peered inside only to be greeted by the cold stare of a gun pointed directly at him.

He frowned visibly before his eyes slowly elevated to the face of the man holding the weapon. The man smiled viciously.

"I told you we'd meet again, didn't I?"

Chase chose that moment to audibly suck in a large gulp of air as the hand around his neck finally loosened.

House's expression remained passive as he surveyed the cuts and bruises already covering the blond doctor's face.

"Oh, here you are! I thought you had skipped out on me again."

Chase blinked as he regarded his boss with an incredulous stare.

House turned to the man towering over him with a gun and gave him a tasteless smile. "I see you have some private business with Doctor Chase so I'll leave you two to your business."

Chase glared at him hard, anger already flaring inside of him.

"This is not about him," the man, Darian as House knew him, waved his gun threateningly, stopping House from taking a further step backward. "Close the door."

House did with a sigh and then stood with his arms folded in front of him. "Now what?"

"Now you come with us."

"Giddy!" House remarked humorously.

Darian, who, apparently, was in charge of the two other men, turned around to look at Chase, then nodded to his men.

Chase gulped nervously, but when he saw one of the men approach him with a syringe, his nervousness turned to terror. He backed away fast only to be restrained from behind again. Chase struggled wildly, and the man had to use a serious head-lock technique to finally still him. Chase breathed hard and struggled to choke out a strangled 'No'.

House watched Chase struggle with a dark frown. The men managed to rip Chase's sleeve and expose his naked arm before plunging the needle into his vein and emptying its content into his system.

"You actually look worried," Darian noted with interest. House flashed him another smile.

"Don't worry," Darian ignored House's display of indifference, "it's only a sedative."

House pursed his lips and turned his attention back to his young ducklin. Whatever stuff they gave him, it was sure potent. Chase managed to hold House's gaze for a moment in which House could see the fear and helplessness clear in his eyes before the blonde's eyes drooped and he slumped limply into the men's waiting arms.

"He's coming with us?"

Darian studied House carefully. "Yes he is."

"I thought this is between you and me!" House asked calmly.

Darian smiled. "It is, but he lied to me. He told me you weren't around, and you know I hate it when people lie to me."

"Sure you do."

"Drop the cane."

House rolled his eyes.

"Drop it."

"Fine," House dropped his cane and glared challengingly back.

"Now, let's go!"

~*~*~*!*~*~*~*~


	2. Chapter 2

**UNDER THE MASK**

**Part 2**

House cast an unhappy glance toward the deathly still figure of Chase that was sprawled on the floor. The kid hasn't even stirred for the past four hours and House was getting irritated by that, and by the fact that his leg was killing him. And worse yet, he was bored to death; he would happily shoot himself now and get it over with if he had the chance.

The two of them were locked in a rotten window-less room occupied only by a single bed which House hadn't attempted to carry Chase to. The Australian was too heavy for him, a fact which did not sound too good to his aching leg especially with his short supply of Vicodin.

He huffed with frustration as he stretched his legs, trying to find a more comfortable position possible.

He heard the distinctive sound of footsteps before the door was unlocked. Two men stood by the door as Darian and another guy stepped inside.

Darian looked tired and frustrated, but he looked down at House, who hadn't bothered to get up, with a content smile; the guy was obviously pleased with himself.

"How've you been?"

House raised his head and glared at him with one eye, "I'm really touched by your concern, I'm just fine. Can't say I like the service though."

Darian smiled broadly before shifting his attention to Chase.

A queasy feeling crept over House and he shifted his weight uneasily. "Why don't you kill me and get it over with already?" he asked lightly, "You'd be doing us both a favor."

Darian sighed as he turned to face House once again. "It crossed my mind."

"Great," House said brightly, "Glad we put that behind us, now if you could let me go, I'd really appreciate it. I'm a very busy man, you know."

"Let '_you_' go!? Why, no pleading for your little friend over there? He risked his life trying to cover for you, you know?"

"What can I say," House shrugged, "Chase's always been a moron."

Darian's smile widened. "So, you wouldn't care if I killed him right now?"

"I would definitely shed a tear... or two."

"I see," Darian nodded before he turned to the man standing next to him, "Kill him."

House frowned and narrowed his eyes as he watched the man pull his gun and step over to the still unconscious Chase. He shifted uneasily. The man pointed the gun at Chase's head and cocked the hammer coolly.

"Hey!" House bolted, clearly fazed, "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

Darian tsked and regarded House with amusement. "What's the matter, House? I thought you didn't care?"

House glared at him lividly, "He didn't do anything. Just let him go, dammit!"

"And why would I do that?"

House seethed. "I'm tired of this game, aren't you? Just tell me what the hell you want."

"What I want," Darian's face turned cold, "is for you to suffer. What I really want is to make you pay for killing my father."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

Darian's smile returned, "Well, this is where the fun part comes in."

"Care to elaborate?"

"He," Darian motioned at Chase, who has finally begun to stir, "was not brought here for nothing. Bringing him along was part of my plan since the beginning."

"Let me guess: to keep me in line."

"Something like that," Darian's eyes turned hard, "I'll make you regret the day you stood against me. From this day forward, your life is going to be hell."

House raised his eyebrow mockingly, "Then I'll feel right at home."

Darain ignored him as he turned to Chase, "His life, however, is going to be worse than hell."

When House didn't react, Darian continued, "But here's the deal," he said calmly, "If the two of you manage to last two weeks, I'll let you both walk out of here alive."

A frown lingered on House's features as his eyes caught a set of purely confused blue ones, just as Darian's words faded in his ears.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

**A/N**. Thanks to all of you who took the time and reviewed my story. Hope you keep enjoying it.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N. **I apologize for taking forever to update *bows*. I've been busy with life. I hope I'll have more time to update this story as well as my other stories in the near future. And yes, I still have no permanent beta even though I desperately need one ^_^

**UNDER THE MASK**

**Part 3**

"What will he do to us? Is he going to kill us?"

House rolled his eyes at the repeated questions. "What am I, a fricken fortune-teller?!

"This is your fault!" Chase hissed as his hand absently massaged his sore neck, "If you at least tried to be nice to your patients, none of this would've happened!"

"You know, I think I liked you more when you were sleeping," House said seriously.

"We might die and it's your fault!"

The older doctor rolled his eyes again, "If I had a gun, I would happily shoot myself right now. At least it'd be quiet."

Chase stopped talking, and for the next hour silence descended the room. Both men were quiet, but their minds were full of questions and fears which they tried, unsuccessfully, to ignore by concentrating on the marks and cracks decorating the walls.

Both men tensed as they heard footsteps approaching. The door slowly creaked open, and four men stepped inside, this time Darian was not present.

Chase swallowed and involuntary pressed himself further against the wall. Two of the men were carrying bags. They dropped them and the third man proceeded to empty their content.

Chase's heart thumbed painfully inside his chest as he surveyed the suspicious looking metal objects being pulled out of the bags.

One of the men then turned his way and slowly approached him, some weird object in hand. Chase sprung to his feet and stumbled fearfully away. House propelled himself against the wall and pulled himself painfully to his own feet.

He watched as the two men caught Chase easily and restrained him. They wrestled him to the floor and soon the young doctor was secured to the far end wall. Chase breathed hard as one of the men ruffled his hair mockingly. The other seemed busy preparing the tool to be used.

House cleared his throat, "Guys, what exactly…?"

His words were cut off by a hard punch delivered to his stomach by the fourth guy. He doubled over in pain and his weak leg gave way sending him to his knees.

A high pitched scream followed instantly pulling House from the pain. He turned to where Chase was held and watched with horror as one man wrapped a muscled arm around Chase, restraining him, while the other plunged a long metal tool inside the soft flesh of Chase's now bare side.

Another blood-curdling scream escaped Chase as the men calmly removed the instrument then re-plunged it- mercilessly - into his other side.

House tried to speak only to be kicked in the face by the other guy. He could taste blood in his mouth and spat the foul taste. His pain was again forgotten the moment he heard another scream from Chase.

This went on during the next half hour. The sharp metal object was inserted in and out of Chase's side, until his flesh turned purple and bloody and unrecognizable.

Soon Chase stopped screaming, and House watched worriedly as the young doctor seemed to go into shock.

It seemed forever before the men ceased their torture. They released Chase and dropped his limp body carelessly to the ground. One man kneeled down over the curling, sweaty figure of the blond doctor and put a hand to his neck to make sure the young man was still breathing. Satisfied, he patted the damp locks and climbed to his feet.

The fourth man shoved some stuff in House's direction before he and the others left the two doctors alone. House looked down at the stuff that was thrown at him: fresh bandages, needle and thread, and alcohol. He sighed before he crawled to the motionless figure of Chase. House batted his cold cheeks and waited for response. There was none. He batted again and again, more urgently and was rewarded with a slight moan.

Satisfied, House turned his attention to the bloody mess that became Chase's sides. He realized that to work on him, he needs to move Chase to the bed. That way it would be more comfortable for both of them since kneeling was getting more painful each second. He carefully propelled Chase against him and lifted, dragging both of them to the bed. The process was harder and more painful than he had imagined.

After he had Chase on the bed, he slowly and skillfully went to work on the injuries. He was glad that the bones were left untouched. The flesh however, was torn and damaged beyond recognition. House took his time patching what he could and after he was satisfied with his work, he bandaged Chase's side. The young doctor seemed to come around half way through the procedure but did nothing other than groan and hiss in pain as House's skillful fingers did their work.

"Thanks," Chase muttered softly sometime after House had finished. House said nothing as he watched the young man close his eyes, curl against the pain, and will himself to sleep despite the intensifying pain flaring all over his body.

Leaning against the bed and stretching his paining legs, House could not help but wonder where this was going and how it was going to end.

He leaned back his head and closed his eyes. Indeed, if he knew all this would happen, he wouldn't have killed the man.

TBC

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